Sales & Marketing

Yankee Candle Company president and CEO Harlan Kent is the newest member of the specialty apparel retailer Rue21’s board of directors.

Rue21 is a rapidly expanding specialty apparel retailer that currently operates 810 stores in 46 states

New York -- Neiman Marcus is equipping all of its 4,000 associates at its full-line stores with smartphones in an effort to better serve customers, company executives said on the retailer’s recent conference call with analysts.

Neiman’s executives also said the company plans to remodel it stores on Michigan Avenue in Chicago, and in Bal Harbour Shops, Bal Harbour, Fla.
 

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — May sales at Fred's Inc. increased 6% to $152.1 million from $143.6 million in May 2011. Comparable-store sales for the month rose 1.3% compared with an increase of 0.2% in the same period last year.

Fred's total sales for the first four months of fiscal 2012 increased 4% to $652.6 million compared with $628 million for the same period last year. On a comparable-store basis, year-to-date sales increased 0.1% on top of an increase of 0.8% in the same period last year.

Chicago -- RKF announced that Steve Schwartz and Lara Keene have joined the firm’s Chicago office as directors.

Schwartz and Keene, formerly of Baum Realty Group, mark the latest additions to the RKF Chicago office, which opened this past April as part of the firm’s ongoing expansion into key urban markets nationwide.
 
 

Greensboro, N.C. -- Fresh Market reported Wednesday that profit for the first quarter climbed 43% to $19.3 million, from $13.5 million in the year-ago period.

Revenue rose 23% to $324.8 million, compared with $264.5 million in the previous year and surpassing Wall Street’s expected $310.6 million in revenue.  Same-store sales increased 8.2%. The strong performance across the board prompted the grocer to bump its outlook for the year.

Leawood, Kan. -- Columbus, Ohio-based Glimcher Realty Trust said Wednesday it has completed the acquisition of One Nineteen, an outdoor retail center located in Leawood, Kan.

One Nineteen is adjacent to Glimcher’s Town Center Plaza and will add approximately 165,000 sq. ft. of GLA to the combined property.  Tenant sales at One Nineteen average more than $900 per sq. ft., and the center is currently 93% leased featuring Kansas City’s first and only Crate & Barrel and lululemon athletica, as well as an Apple store.

St. Louis -- Brown Shoe Co. said Wednesday that CFO Mark Hood has resigned the company, effective June 11. Russ Hammer has been named the successor.

“I’m confident [Hammer] will be able to make an immediate contribution across the company and to the work we’ve been completing in our portfolio realignment efforts,” said Diane Sullivan, president and CEO.

Cincinnati -- Macy’s reported Wednesday that same-store sales for the month of May increased 4.2% compared with the previous year. Revenue rose 4.1% to $2.02 billion.